Talk:Composer/Archives/2015

Picture caption

New editor PLCraig3 (talk · contribs) commented on WP:ANI that they believed the caption on the top picture is incorrect, that Louis-Nicolas Clérambault is at a harpichord, not a piano. They attempted to change this, but ran into an error. I'm short of time, so I'm asking if someone watching this page might consider the change. Thanks! Ravensfire (talk) 00:50, 10 February 2015 (UTC)

How sure are we this is a harpsichord? I changed the caption (for now) to the more generic "keyboard". Antandrus (talk) 01:51, 10 February 2015 (UTC)

I honestly have no clue and this is way, way outside my area of knowledge. Clérambault's article mentions harpsichord and organ, but not piano, but that doesn't mean that much. I'll put a note on that talk page to see if someone familiar with the subject can offer advice. Ravensfire (talk) 16:36, 10 February 2015 (UTC)

If anyone would like to change it to "harpsichord" that's fine with me ... Clérambault died in 1749. There were plenty of early pianos in the 1730s and 1740s, but not so many in France (mostly Italy and then Germany and Austria). Being French it's quite likely it's a harpsichord. The picture does not give a clear view of the keyboard or the internal mechanism ... maybe Opus knows? Antandrus (talk) 16:51, 10 February 2015 (UTC)

The picture file is here and its Source/Photographer link points here. That page uses clavecin (French for harpsichord) as its main keyword. Keyboard is probably the safe choice for the caption, and trying to decide just by looking at the picture is decidedly OR, but I think PLCraig3 (talk · contribs) is almost certainly right. --Stfg (talk) 17:32, 10 February 2015 (UTC)

I agree. If I remember rightly, square pianos took off in a big way only with Zumpe in the 1760's. In 1749 the piano was still more or less an exotic item (e.g., in 1747 when Bach encountered Frederick the Great's piano it was something of an occasion -- great keyboardist meets cool "new" instrument). These facts suggest that Clérambault was probably portrayed seated at a square harpsichord (i.e. virginals). But one other possibility is that the portrait is posthumous and anachronistically depicts a square piano. As it stands, I think Antandrus's choice of the word "keyboard"is quite appropriate; it's the usual diction adopted by music scholars when they just don't know. Opus33 (talk) 17:36, 10 February 2015 (UTC)

Thank you all for the help on this - it's greatly appreciated. Ravensfire (talk) 03:35, 11 February 2015 (UTC)